At the reception, the General Secretary and President welcomed Admiral Paparo's visit, and emphasized that along with recent visits by War Minister Pete Hegseth and Acting Navy Minister Hung Cao, defense cooperation continues to be an important pillar, contributing to deepening and substantializing relations between the two countries, contributing to peace and development in the region and the world.
General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that Vietnam considers the US as one of the most strategically important partners, and wishes to continue to effectively implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework with the US, bringing the relations between the two countries to develop more and more substantively, deeply and effectively, for the benefit of the people of the two countries.
Thanking President Donald Trump for the warm welcome at the opening of the Peace Council (February 2026), General Secretary and President To Lam respectfully recalled inviting President Trump to pay an official visit to Vietnam and attend APEC High-Level Week 2027.
Agreeing with President Trump on the need to soon end negotiations on the reciprocal trade agreement, General Secretary and President To Lam proposed that the US soon end investigations under Section 301, limiting extreme trade remedies that may affect the overall relationship between the two countries.
At the same time, it is proposed that the two sides promote mutually beneficial cooperation in science and technology; emphasizing that achieving breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation is Vietnam's priority in implementing strategic growth goals.
Emphasizing the profound significance of cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war, General Secretary and President To Lam requested the US to continue to maintain and expand projects to support Vietnam in overcoming the consequences of war, especially to welcome all efforts of the US to strengthen projects to improve the capacity of appraisal and provision of dossiers and documents, in order to accelerate the process of searching, repatriating and identifying the remains of Vietnamese martyrs; at the same time, Vietnam is committed to continuing to create the most favorable conditions for the search for missing American soldiers in the war (MIA) as has been persistently implemented for more than half a century.
Admiral Samuel Paparo affirmed that the US values promoting relations with Vietnam; highly appreciates Vietnam's increasingly strengthened international position and prestige, playing an increasingly important role in ASEAN as well as the regional structure.
Agreeing with the assessments of General Secretary and President To Lam, Admiral Paparo emphasized the vision of a free, open and safe Indo-Pacific region, and affirmed that the US attaches importance to promoting relations with ASEAN, supporting the role of ASEAN Center - a region with 800 million people and the potential to become the 4th largest economy in the world in the overall US regional policy.
Admiral Paparo agreed with the specific proposals of General Secretary and President To Lam on measures to promote the relationship between the two countries to a new height, and committed that the Pacific Command will continue to closely coordinate with Vietnam to effectively implement humanitarian cooperation programs, disaster relief, and improve law enforcement capacity at sea.
Admiral Paparo reaffirmed the US commitment to support Vietnam in overcoming the consequences of the war, accompanying Vietnam's efforts in the 500-day and night campaign to search, repatriate, and identify the remains of Vietnamese martyrs.
The US Trade Representative (USTR) in March 2026 announced the launch of an investigation under Section 301, related to overcapacity, systemic overproduction and forced labor at many key trading partners.
